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Heads may be rolling in front of the camera and behind the scenes at Days of our Lives, but the reports of one actress' demise have been greatly exaggerated. Now, Lauren Koslow (Kate Roberts) is speaking out about her "firing" from the NBC soap.

An internet rumor stating that actress Lauren Koslow (Kate Roberts) had been fired has been debunked by Days of Our Lives production insiders as "malicious gossip." The false "news" created a firestorm late last month.

Lauren Koslow

It wasn't true, and Lauren Koslow stepped in to set things straight the following week.

"Not only am I staying," she explained, "but I've heard a little bit about a story [for Kate] that's coming up."

Word spread quickly from message boards to blogs as fans outraged by multiple axings bought into the erroneous report and began spreading the bad news, setting up online petitions, and demanding Days of our Lives stop the bloodbath. Mailbags and email accounts quickly filled as the DAYS production office and soap web sites and magazines were bombarded with negative letters and messages.

The Koslow firing tale seemed plausible; DAYS has experienced a surge in backstage turmoil lately, as actors appeared and disappeared abruptly from the cast list in ways felt by many fans to be arbitrary and unpredictable. Renee Jones (Lexie Carver) has been fired and re-hired twice in the past two years, Julie Pinson (Billie Reed) exited the show just this week, Judi Evans (Adrienne Kiriakis) last aired in January, and Martha Madison (Belle Black) and Brandon Beemer (Shawn Douglas Brady) will be written out shortly. In the wake of the firings come several high profile hirings include Shirley Jones's expensive one-week stint as Colleen Brady, and Tamara Braun's mystery woman "Ava," also said to be a short-term but pricey stunt.

Koslow has played Kate Roberts since 1996. Her previous soap roles include The Young and the Restless' Lindsay Wells Abbott (1984 to 1986), and designer Margo Lynley on The Bold and the Beautiful (1997 to 2002).